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ShelterBoxes en route to Peru for mudslide victims

224 ShelterBoxes are being sent to Peru to bring shelter, warmth and dignity to families who have been made homeless by recent mudslides.

A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) has found a need for emergency shelter in the mountainous area of Cuzco in southeastern Peru. Much of the region has been evacuated but many people remain in the more isolated areas.

SRT members John Cordell and Gary Boe, both Rotarians from the US, travelled to Abancay, a city in Apurimac District, where a landslide happened on 18 March.

‘We arrived in Abancay to find around 150 families homeless after heavy rains on Sunday caused the hillside to let go, which produced a mudslide that buried their homes,’ said Gary. ‘Our priority is to get emergency shelter to them as soon as possible’

There are reports of similar problems in a town called Choccepuquio in Chincheros District in the same region where 60 homes have been destroyed. Several more homes have also been damaged in the area surrounding the capital of Lima.The SRT is coordinating a response with the national disaster management office, the National Institute of Civil Defence (INDECI), and other officials of the regional area while the ShelterBoxes are being transported to the South American country.

Heavy rains have caused rivers to burst during Peru’s rainy season over the past few months, flooding fields of crops and producing landslides that have damaged hundreds of homes.